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The Daily Iowan - Iowa City, Iowa - Tuesday, June 28, 2011 - 5
Quality education a must, hopeful says Phil Hemingway says his platform will focus on transparency and reducing unnecessary spending. By BRIAN ALBERT brian-albert@uiowa.edu
Phil Hemingway envisions a community of collaboration and honesty, he said before a small audience at the Iowa City Public Library Monday. The candidate for the Iowa City School Board held his first of what he said will be many listening posts, outlining the foundations of his platform, which included transparency in spending, the reduction of unnecessary expenses, and the preservation of quality education programs for the city’s youth. “The most vital and important thing is to have competent, educated, highly motivated teachers in front of our kids,” said the auto shop owner owner. “That’s where the rubber meets the road. That’s my stand.” Hemingway, a 51-yearold West Branch native who has a daughter attending a school in the Iowa City School District, expressed his displeasure about several recent School Board budget decisions, including the purchase of a $154,000 garbage truck, and plans regarding the construction of an $85,000 car wash. “Sometimes, it’s OK to have second-class equipment for whatever department,” he said, adding he believes the money could have been better used by purchasing smart boards or upgrading school computers. “But it’s never OK to give a second-class education to kids. Work with what you have, and don’t sacrifice what’s actually the most important thing.” Hemingway’s second concern was improving transparency between the board and constituents. Taxpayers, parents, and students all have a right to
GABRIELLE ELIASON/THE DAILY IOWAN
Phil Hemingway, who plans to run for a School Board seat, and daughter Monica talk to members of the public in the Iowa City Public Library on Monday.
Phil Hemingway’s Platform The Iowa City School Board hopeful said he plans to address these points: • Encourage community discussion • Reduce unnecessary spending • Diminish voter apathy • Promote financial transparency • Continue to provide kids with quality education know how cash is allotted, he said. “People can really only make informed decisions when they have enough information,” Hemingway said. “Money will be the dominant issue going forward, so I think people should know where it’s
going and how it will or won’t directly affect them.” He has been an active voice at School Board meetings over the past year and a half, as the board has dealt with issues concerning redistricting, asbestos screening, and lead exposure. One attendee at the listening post, Brent DeNeice, a teacher at City High, 1900 Morningside Drive, raised the idea of “super” elementary schools as a fix for redistricting issues. “People had a big problem with redistricting messing up their routines and their transportation schedules,” DeNeice said. “If one of these huge elementary schools were to be made, would it be for new areas or would it include such schools as Twain, Lucas, and Hoover?”
METRO Polish priest’s remarks draw fire WARSAW, Poland — A Polish priest and media mogul has sparked uproar in Poland by calling the country a totalitarian state that “hasn’t been ruled by Poles since 1939” — a statement many interpret as code for saying Jews are secretly running the country. The Rev. Tadeusz Rydzyk, who has previously been accused of fomenting anti-Semitism through his politically influential, ultraCatholic radio station Radio Maryja, made the comments at the European Parliament last week. Poland’s Foreign Ministry sent a diplomatic note to the Vatican on June 25 accusing Rydzyk of “harming the image of Poland abroad,” the first-ever such complaint by the Polish government to the Holy See. The Vatican is the supreme authority for Rydzyk’s Redemptorist order. Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi told Polish news agency PAP on Monday that Rydzyk speaks in his own name and his statements do not involve the Holy See or Poland’s Church. He did not say if the Vatican
will offer a formal reply, according to PAP. Jerzy Buzek, the head of the EU Parliament and former prime minister of Poland, has called Rydzyk’s remarks “scandalous and unacceptable.” Rydzyk spoke during a seminar on renewable energy last Tuesday. His remarks went largely unnoticed in Brussels but have since sparked days of debate in Poland, with weekend talk shows and newspaper opinion columns devoted to analyzing the powerful priest’s words. — Associated Press
Nets’ owner head of new Russian political party MOSCOW — Russian tycoon and New Jersey Net basketball team owner Mikhail Prokhorov was confirmed June 25 as the new head of a Kremlin-friendly political party. The 46-year-old billionaire was all but unanimously elected head of the Right Cause party by its members. Right Cause is seen as a Kremlin creation designed to lure opposition-minded, pro-business
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voters, while building an illusion of competition with the ruling United Russia party ahead December’s parliamentary elections. Prokhorov said last month he was targeting second place in that vote. President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday that Russia needs more political competition, but the Justice Ministry made a mockery of that only days later when it denied registration to a real opposition party. Addressing party members on June 25, Prokhorov underlined that Right Cause would focus on building a viable capitalism in Russia, but — perhaps wary of alienating older voters accustomed to state support — he added socialism still had its place in Russian society. “Our main slogan, ‘Capitalism for all,’ is not true. That’s not possible,” Prokhorov said. “Capitalism is only for people who like to take risks, who like to take this responsibility upon themselves. An intelligent, professional, and fair state should give others social guarantees and support.” — Associated Press
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Hemingway responded saying he was “not a fan of the ‘bigger is better’ way of thinking,” and in his experience small schools were better. Another attendee, Hani Elkadi, an art instructor at Kirkwood Community College, asked Hemingway about special educa-
tion, voter apathy, and the feasibility of magnet schools. “Every single year, the number of special-needs children in our schools rises,” Elkadi said. “You can either have special programs for these kids, or you can integrate them into normal classes.”
A one-size-fits-all mentality f or Iowa City schools, Hemingway said, won’t work because some will need special attention “But I think there are huge benefits to integrating everyone and letting the students help each other,” he said.